Impressive

While the Cali Becks were here we did a Progressive dinner that included my mom's, my sister's, and our house. (my vote for next year is that we all end up at Trevor and Nicole's for breakfast!) We started with appetizers at our house, then the main dish at my sister's, and dessert at my mom and dad's house. The idea is to keep it simple and enjoy visiting and seeing each other's Christmas trees. Always great to spend 3 hours eating!

It looked like this...

Apples to dip in caramel, pineapple rolled in toaster coconut, crackers & cheese,

& bread with pesto, and pretzel fish for the kids!

Pizza muffins (bread and cheese wrapped around ham, pepperoni, and sausage) with marinara sauce and caesar salad.

Pumpkin pie, cream puffs, truffles, 3 kinds of cookies, and Oreos, bananas, & strawberries to dip in chocolate! (Mom- you did not keep it simple...we LOVED it!!) Lots of food, laughs, and fun.

Cali Becks!!

(Emma, Josh, Regan, and Gavin)

(Trevor & Jamison)

My brother Trevor, his wife Nicole, and their boys Jamison & Gavin were here for Thanksgiving and it was FUN! The time went by too fast and I wasn't great about taking pictures of everyone, but I got these and they were so cute that I had to post 'em.

Tagged

(Lynda- you tagged me weeks ago, but here it is...the fourth picture in the fourth file. )

This is Emma, the Panther going for the GOAL!

I am tagging: Kathryn, Bre, Holly, and Nicole... so let's see it girls- the fourth picture in the fourth file!

The Best thing about Thanksgiving... For HIM!!

Brady's favorite part of the Thanksgiving festivities is playing in the Turkey Bowl! He usually does a game of tackle football with friends from high school and some family and just who ever is "man enough" (huh?)! This year he turned over a new leaf and decided that the flag football game being held in our ward would be a better option. I was shocked that he was willing to forgo this event and happy that he'd fianlly come to his senses!
And then he came home after 2 1/2 hours of fun looking like this...

I am thinking this flag game turned to tackle!! I was just thankful that I wasn't eating my dinner at the hospital!!

Here it is! It has been up for about a week, but we just put the star on last night. I did a slide show of all the different things I put on it because pictures don't seem to do a tree justice.

So, we are now enjoying the anticipation of Christmas and all the fun traditions that go with it!

* If you don't have the volume up turn it up and go to my playlist and restart "Belleau Wood" by Garth Brooks. It's an amazing (and true) Christmas story!

Redemption?

So 24 fans... what'd you think??

All I have to say is this: -Tony Almeda- ARE YOU SERIOUS??

Can't wait til January...

5K Friday

They have no idea that the world outside their bedroom windows is in turmoil- they just want a story from Dad and songs from Mom. They have no idea that our country just voted in a historical election- they are just learning about making good choices. And they have no idea that every night I go in their rooms and kiss them one more time before I go to bed so that I can remember that whatever is going on "out there" we will deal with because they are what matter most.

Want a Ride?

On Saturday we went to the Williams-Gateway Airport Open House. There were all kinds of planes and helicopters for the kids to see. Emma and Regan thought it was so great to get in and play around the helicopters and even ride in an old fire truck! It was fun, but really... shorts and t-shirts in November? I'm still waiting for boots and sweaters!! Maybe by Christmas we'll have some luck... In the meantime we'll just enjoy not sweating after being outside for 2 minutes!!